//------------------------------// // The Ceremony: 2 // Story: Under our Crimson Moon // by Ponyess //------------------------------// ”Pinkie Pie; do you realize, what you have just done?” I exclaimed, incapable of containing myself or grasp what was just happening before my very eyes. “Oh, but of course; silly Twilly. I promised her a welcoming party, what is up with that?” Pinkie Pie giggled innocently. “Nightmare Moon is not just any Pony on the street, you know. She is responsible for throwing Equestria into an eternal night, and twice now. You just slip in as if there was nothing going on, and throw a party in her face as if it was commonplace!” I pointed out. “Now you are silly, it is common place for me to make friends and throw parties. What’s up with that? You don’t want me to make her smile and be happy? Do you realize, just how unnatural that is to me?” she retorted in a crescendo of words. “No, I don’t; even if the rest of the village may know you, well enough to see the point. You just changed the timeline, like nothing else! Princess Celestia has been working on gather us here for centuries, in order for us to fulfill the prophecy and you just ditch it as if it was nothing? There will be repercussions, and I fear they are anything but warm and welcoming like the party you had in mind!” I put forth. “Of course I knew of Celestia and her preparations; just as I know how much she had been looking forwards to see her younger sister, after we had managed to rein her in and save her from the curse of her pent up deep and dark emotions. The main problem is that we were so ready to sacrifice a strong and capable mare, just for her to have her sister back; I couldn’t take it upon myself when I could save the mare before me!” she hissed in a whisper. “You are not prepared to sacrifice? Do you have the slightest idea as to what is about to happen now, Pinkie Pie?” I responded. “I know, and there will be an epic party for our new Queen. What is wrong with that? Celestia will have everything she had been asking you for, and then some! Speaking of predictions, I have the feeling you are about to get to know me much deeper and more intimately than you ever knew a Pony before; and that includes your very own brother Shining Armour. I just hope I don’t have to beat it into your head in the Pie family manner!” she exclaimed, in an exceedingly quiet manner. “Wait, what are you even raving about now?” I merely gasped; without grasping the full width or depth of what she just had thrown in my face, like a pie. “Parties are, serious. Dead, serious!! I have a Queen to celebrate, and she needs and deserves the attention of the entire village. Right now! Besides, you will learn soon enough; but I can’t take the time to explain all of this right now!” she prompted; and run off backwards, but looking as if she had been galloping towards me. She was gone. She was no longer there, the pink mare known as Pinkie Pie. Where she went off to, but she had vowed to throw a party for the Queen; Nightmare Moon. In the midst of that thought, she felt a pink hoof on her shoulder; just an instant before she was pulled out of the thought, and landed in a bouncing move on the ground in a large room. “Where am I?” I mouthed, not quite daring to change it. “Party hall, Ground zero!” she merely exclaimed in response. “Party hall, and Ground zero; these two can’t mix, you know!” I throw out, in response to her statement. “I have been working hard, pulling in every Pony for this; and you tell me it can’t work? What does a little Pony like you know of Parties, when all you have been doing is reading all these dusty old books, books and heavy tomes?” she spat at me. I was looking this way and that, in perplexed confusion. There is a large throne, and the stained windows; just not quite the once I could remember, from my last visit to Canterlot castle. “Where.. where are we?” I stuttered confused. “You silly filly, you don’t even recognize your old home in the Royal castle of Canterlot? Even if I had to make a few minor corrections here and there, for the party and all!” she explained, as if she had been my mother and all such. “If you put it like that, I do recognize that thrown; yet most everything else is tilted and out of order. Even the doors are scattered about!” I pointed out, pointing out what I saw with my right hoof as I spoke. “Oh, but look at that; the image of me approaching our new Queen, as I talked her down? Isn’t it just festive? Besides; you do need a few extra doors, so we can move freely between the various halls here!” she raved on and on. “How does a Pony build a door between the Throne room and the Grand Party hall?” I moaned in shock, as I realized what she had just pointed out. “It was that, or having Ponies getting lost as they were moving between the various activities. Could you have them all over the Palace, just to find the punch?” she eagerly prompted. “When you put it like that, I guess it does make a severely senseless sense!” I shuddered, at the thought; seeing Ponies lost on and all over the Palace and the surrounding grounds. “Where are all the others?” I inquired, severely to the point. “They should be in the Party hall, familiarizing themselves with my punch or having a cup of cider!” she pointed out. I followed her hoof with my gaze and noticed numerous Ponies in about every colour I could name in the hall. Spotting a few new friends, as my eyes sweep the large room; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “Is that Spitfire and Soarin? How in the name of Celestia’s Mother did you manage to pull them into your insane scheme in this short a time?” I uttered; as I saw the Wonderbolts’ uniforms in blue, with the yellow details. “Easy, peasy. First off, I snuck them out of the clouds, then I explained that they were required at a party for the Queen, in order for her to release our beloved princesses. May I say, they were only too eager to partake; once it occurred to them, what I had in mind!” she burst out. “I can’t blame them; they are her elite guards, as the tradition has it. Besides; they are commonly on a more important festivity like the Grand Galloping Gala, and this is an important event enough for them to be eager to be around. Just hope you remembered to pull out a few important Ponies, out of your sleeve; for the Queen to feel more at home!” I pointed out. “Celebrities and important Ponies is Rarity’s table, but I do stay ajour; just to know what is in and out, up and down among all my friends. This is the year of Ponyville, so I had to include all the Ponies of Ponyville and the Apples’ clan. I included all the finest chefs and cooks, in order to have a chance to wow and impress our Queen, of course. You don’t want to make her regret coming over here, now do you? Besides, this is where she will live, as well as handle a few important events in the future. Princess Celestia is certain to be thrilled, when she learns that she doesn’t have to greet innumerable Ponies who are here, just so they can know they are still important. Oh and of course, there are Fancypants, Photo Finish, Prince Blueblood, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, Cherry Jubilee and Octavia. This is bound to be epic, you know!” she blurted out in; a veritable torrent of words, in a single breath and was not even winded as she finished. “Rarity is the Fasionista, I have managed to gather as much; asking her would make perfect sense to me too. That is why Princess Celestia ordered me to the village in the first place, which makes me start to suspect that she knew of this issue all along. Enraging a fully grown Alicorn is commonly a very bad idea, one I have no interest in committing! For now, it is the only castle available to her, on this short a notice. Important enough, but mind-killing. Plenty of important Ponies on the floor, I see!” I responded, as I followed her hoof over the floor. --- --- ---